Australian economy crawls back into growth mode thanks to datacentre boom and household spending uptick

An investment boom in datacentres has helped fuel Australia’s GDP growth, but it still fell short of expectations. Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Surging investment in datacentres to fuel the AI tech boom and rising household spending on essentials like electricity and rents buoyed economic growth through the three months to September.

National accounts figures showed real GDP expanded by 2.1% in the year, accelerating from 2% in June.